Jaggantha Puri in Sri Sampradaya

[Guest guest]

Jai Shri Krishna

 

Sri Purushotam Kshetra, Jaggantha Puri in Orrisa is one of the most important holy places in Bharat Varsha. It is one of the 4 dhams, it is mentioned in many Scriptures. All major sampradayas have Mathas and some history here from Shankara, Ramanuja, Swaminarayan and Chaitanya. Despite being a Vishnu Ksetra it is also revered by Shaktheya, Shaiva and Smarta Sampradayas.

 

I am aware that there is a Ramanuja Matha in the Ksetra and they have some role in the kainkarya of the temple. But it appears that the Srivaishnava sampradaya has relatively small association with this Kshetra. Why is this so? For example the Azhvars did not do any pasurams on Lord Jaganath despite mentioning several other Vada Nadu temples? I know Acharaya Ramanuja went there, but why does the temple pujas follow a tradition of puja which is non-Vaikhanasa/Pancharatra??? Also the form of Lord Jagganth is very unusual and he does not appear like this in other temples, similary although we commonly have Krishna-Balaram deities it is rare to have vighrahas of Subhadra devi along with Krishna. The Gaudiya sampradaya has given explainations on why the lord appears with Balaram-Subhadra and why he has this peculiar form. What does SriVaishnavam have to say about this matter???

[Guruvani]

 

In the Brahma Purana it is said, "The transcendental significance of

Purusottama-ksetra, which is the eighty-square-mile field of Lord Jagannatha,

cannot be properly described. Even the demigods from higher planetary systems

see the inhabitants of this Jagannatha Puri as having exactly the same bodily

features possessed by one in Vaikuntha. That is, the demigods see the

inhabitants of Jagannatha Puri as being four-handed."

[Vigraha]